THE script crafted by the couple who claimed they wanted to avoid parental pressure by slipping away from home over the weekend and triggering headlines speculating they may have been kidnapped, may not make it to Hollywood or Bollywood.

Their staged escapade borders more on the ridiculous and may be more suitable for a comedy movie if it did not raise serious questions.

First off, the two are not love-smitten teenagers who eloped to explore their new-found world of joys.

They are adults who should have known better and should have been aware of the trauma that any suggestion of kidnapping will generate in this country.

Some families here are still in shock over the loss of loved ones who vanished without trace and there have been instances in the not too distant past about persons kidnapped and not found.

Reports of kidnapping can therefore have serious repercussions among the population and these two really should apologise to the nation and the authorities for their childish behaviour.

According to the police, the man and his girlfriend were on Monday found alive and well at the East Coast Demerara home of the man’s father.

The man’s motor vehicle was found on the Georgetown Seawall last Sunday. Inside were the clothes he and the woman were wearing when they left home the day before, police said.

There was no trace of their whereabouts and police launched an intensive search for them.

According to the police, after they turned up unharmed, the man claimed he felt “pressured” by his family to take up the medical profession which is not of his own choice.

He became “frustrated” and following discussions with his girlfriend, they decided to go away, police said.

It is clear that they planned their staged disappearance.

Police said they travelled to Georgetown on Saturday, left the vehicle on the Georgetown seawall and went by taxi to Berbice where they overnighted at a hotel in Crabwood Creek, Corentyne, and hopped over to Suriname the following day.

While in Suriname they became aware of the publicity their disappearance had generated, including speculation that they may have been kidnapped or killed and decided to return home, police said.

Good for them that they came to their senses so quickly but they should not be left off lightly for their foolhardiness and trying to resolve their personal problems by creating national concern.

The Police Force has far too much on its hands to spend scarce resources and manpower trying to find lightheaded people frustrated with parental pressures.

Throwing tantrums is what kids do – not grown adults.